by the time cooke ' s small squadron arrived off manila . cooke had taken precautions to disguise his ships as french vessels , modelling sy ##bill ##e on the powerful 40 @ - @ gun forte and fox on the smaller pr ##ude ##nte . late in the afternoon of 13 january 1798 , sy ##bill ##e and fox arrived in manila bay , slipping un ##chal ##len ##ged past the fortress of co ##rre ##gi ##dor and then sailing across the bay on the morning of 14 january , anchor ##ing between manila and ca ##vite . from his vantage point cooke could see the spanish squadron di ##sma ##sted and under repair in ca ##vite , the ships of the line san pedro , europa
by the time cooke's small squadron arrived off manila. cooke had taken precautions to disguise his ships as french vessels, modelling sybille on the powerful 40 @ - @ gun forte and fox on the smaller prudente. late in the afternoon of 13 january 1798, sybille and fox arrived in manila bay, slipping unchallenged past the fortress of corregidor and then sailing across the bay on the morning of 14 january, anchoring between manila and cavite. from his vantage point cooke could see the spanish squadron dismasted and under repair in cavite, the ships of the line san pedro, europa